Pen and Sword: Pendragon 5.2, Adapted

“What is important is to try to develop insights and wisdom rather than mere knowledge, respect someone's character rather than his learning, and nurture men of character rather than mere talents.”

The year is Bunsho Era 2, or 1467 AD on the Gregorian calendar.

In the idyllic town of Yoneoka, sets of newly-acquired Daishō rest on the belts of your school's members, reminding those around you of your newly acquired rank as samurai. Tadakatsu Nishio, leader of his own school of swordsmanship and veteran of the Kakitsu Incident, has taught you the right ways of war and courtesy for the last six years. His teaching is complete, perhaps just in time: rumblings from nearby Kyoto indicate that the succession dispute over the abdication of Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa is reaching a head.

But more immediate matters lie at home: Last night, a traveling ronin, or samurai errant, passed by just as a snowstorm was coming in. In accordance with rules of hospitality, he was invited in and given food, drink, and a place to rest. Your master, knowing that you have completed your training to its fullest extent, offered to make a demonstration of the school's style by humbly challenging the traveler to a duel.

Bound by both a need to repay generosity and as a matter of testing one's skill, the ronin accepts. However, the stakes are high- the master insists on a duel using real steel, rather than with a wooden bokken. All of you know that due to the lack of armor used in these kinds of duels, it is very possible one or both could die.

But that is the Way.

--|死 |--

What system are you using (D&D 3.5, PF, WoD, etc.)?
This is an adaptation of the Pendragon 5.2 rules to fit feudal-era Japan, as suggested by former players of my Pendragon campaign.
What medium(s) are you using (PbP, MapTool, etc.)?
This will be PbP on the TangledWeb forum, but with supplemental material, secret information, and solo quests on a Discord.
How often will you require people to post?
On the forum, I expect posts once or twice a week, preferably more. If I feel one player is getting ahead of the others, I will quietly supplement their adventure with a solo quest.
What kind of action(s) will be taken if a person does not post within the required time?Pic related. I will NPC the character until (if) their player returns. This may not be a good thing, and will probably end with them being in trouble or killed.
Any supplementary programs needed?
I intend to run supplemental/solo missions on Discord to handle different-speed schedules.
What house rules does the game have?
I have compiled some house rules, with flexibility as needed, to the following threeblogposts.
What restrictions are there on source material?
Character creation is intended to be as straightforward as possible, so there will be as little supplemental material as possible. I will accept sourcebooks for Pendragon only in extreme circumstances.

How do players create their characters?This link contains a character sheet which you can copy. Basic instructions are given on the Gen&Track tab. I will add additional description and update as needed. Here is a link to an example sheet (your PC's master 25 years in the past). If there are any issues, please contact me immediately.
I do not care for names, so long as they do not stand out tremendously from feudal Japan or belong to an existing major family. In doubt, contact me. Also remember that Japanese names are referenced family name first, personal second.
Discuss any family background you believe to be important to play with me before claiming to be, for example, the bastard son of the shogun.
I need players to roll 1d20 twice: Once for their Family Trait (which is on the sheet) and once for their Heirloom (which I will assign).

What other restrictions and/or requirements are there?
Adult themes will be present. I will be taking only players of age 18+, and expect mature handling of sensitive topics.
If there are any female samurai, there will be only one in each generation, and they will be created the same way as male samurai. Medieval warriors of any culture tended to be heavily chauvinistic in reality. I apologize if this is offensive to anyone, but it is one of my hard requirements.
There will be no player ninja, foreigners, or magic-users. You are samurai first and foremost, and any leniency on this rule will wait for at least one generation. If you attempt to weasel around this rule, I will not accept that character or any further characters. No exceptions.
Historical locations, times, and people are naturally incorporated, so metagaming will be allowed to a certain extent. However, I will take liberties when and as I feel the need.
For how long are you recruiting?
I will wait for the ordinary two weeks, or until I receive four completed applications.

I'd love to submit a character for this, but my current living situation isn't really conducive to using discord for supplemental missions. I totally understand if this is disqualifying, but if you'd be open to finding another solution I'd be happy to PM you about it.

I'd love to submit a character for this, but my current living situation isn't really conducive to using discord for supplemental missions. I totally understand if this is disqualifying, but if you'd be open to finding another solution I'd be happy to PM you about it.

What format would be easier for you? Feel free to PM me.

Originally Posted by Berenion

Just to clarify, Dine means to use Discord as a faster pbp, and not for voice or webcam sessions.

Yep. I'm not planning on using the microphone or camera features for this.

Yep. I'm not planning on using the microphone or camera features for this.

In that case, there shouldn't be a problem (I misunderstood and thought that you meant a live chat session). I'll try to get to work on an application as soon as I can, although I'm still getting used to Pendragon so it might be a few days assuming spots are still open when I finish.

I'm definitely interested, but with my current IRL insanity I may be limited to forum posts or just a few discord posts. If you find 4 highly active/available players I'll step aside but would love to play. Would also be interested in a more minor role (appearing here and there) if applicable.

Unfortunately, I'm a little worried that now that I'm in two games on this website, adding another without first seeing if two is a manageable amount might be a bad idea. As a result, I'm going to leave this one to other applicants. However, if it's a possibility, I'd love to be on the shortlist of players considered in the future if a spot needs to be filled or (as LilToasty mentioned) if a minor recurring character is needed.

However, I will mention to people looking at this who are unfamiliar with the system:

Pendragon seems complicated at first, but I have no experience with it and read up on the rules for about a half hour and already feel like I have a pretty good handle on it. It's also clear that Dark has put a TON of thought into this already, so I'd encourage anyone that's interested to at least take a look at the system and think about applying.

This game honestly seems SO interesting (and I'm tearing my hair out that it might be too difficult to play and am on the verge of saying "screw it" and rolling up a character anyway), so I really hope it gets going.

DINE does a fantastic job teaching the system, if you have any worry about picking it up. When we started his pendragon game none of us had a clue what was going on but by the end we had it fairly well mastered. Simple dice mechanics, no crazy skills or abilities to learn or manage, and a consistent system for everything from combat to RP. Definitely think you could pick it up quickly.

Yeah, I keep coming back to this wanting to play, but even though I'm sure I could pick it up pretty quickly taking on a game with a new system when I'm just at the beginning of two other games seems like it could be a lot. I'll probably give it a couple of days to see how many applications this game gets and see if I still feel like it'll be too much.